Stratford, Connecticut
Fairfield county. This town was first settled in 1639, by persons from Boston, Roxbury, and Concord, Mass. and Wethersfield, Ct. Its Indian name was Cupheag.
Stratford is about 6 miles in length from north to south, and its breadth from east to west is between 2 and 3 miles. It is bounded north by Huntington, west by Trumbull and Bridgeport, east by the Housatonick, dividing it from Milford, and south by Long Island Sound. The central part of the town is 13 miles S.W. from New Haven and 8 E. by N. from Fairfield. The township is mostly level and free from stone, and there is a very rich alluvial tract of meadows on the river and harbor. The principal street in the town, is one mile in length, running north and south, parallel to the Housatonick; it is level, pleasant, and ornamented with shade trees. On this street, and others, in the immediate vicinity, there are about 200 dwelling houses, and 4 houses for public worship.
This place lies at the mouth of Housatonick river and had considerable inland and coasting trade. Stratford Point, jutting out into the Sound, is very pleasant, and a noted landing place for passengers.
Gen. David Wooster was a native of this town, and was born in 1711. He was a brave and good officer, an ardent patriot, and in his various public and private relations, sustained a character distinguished for integrity, benevolence and virtue. He was mortally wounded in a skirmish with the British troops, at the time of their incursion to Danbury, in 1777.
